1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shaker heads that are mounted upon mechanized harvesting vehicles and utilized to shake fruit and nut trees, and more particularly to an apparatus for the air and/or liquid cooling of such shaker heads during tree shaking operations.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Devices for shaking nut and fruit trees to cause nuts or fruit to drop to the ground for harvesting are well known in the prior art. R. W. Brandt, Jr., was a particularly prolific inventor in this field, and his U.S. Pat. No. 3,163,458 issued Dec. 29, 1964; U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,268 issued Nov. 30, 1965; U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,567 issued Dec. 7, 1965; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,318,629 issued May 9, 1967 describe various features of tree shaking devices and shaker heads that are still employed in current devices. A problem with current shaker heads is frictional heat buildup within the shaker heads. Such heat buildup necessitates the frequent rotation of pillow pads mounted upon the shaker heads and shortens the life of the pillow pads and the slings that hold the pillow pads to the shaker head. However, none of R. W. Brandt, Jr.'s devices include shaker head cooling mechanisms to alleviate heat buildup in the shaker head and pillow pads.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,458, issued Jan. 16, 1990 to Ira Compton, teaches a liquid-cooled shaker head retaining sling. In this device each sling is provided with a pattern of coolant channels through which cooling liquid is pumped, thus cooling the sling and helping to prevent heat buildup in the pillow pad.